New Bedford, Massachusetts Increases Cigar Prices Under New Tobacco Regulations

[JohnS]

This is what government authorities do when they want to raise revenue quickly, in my view. The same thing happened in my country (Australia).

New Bedford, Massachusetts Increases Cigar Prices Under New Tobacco Regulation

 NEW BEDFORD (WBSM) — New regulations restricting tobacco sales in the city of New Bedford went into effect on January 1, and it has some shocked at how much they’re now paying for cigars.

A caller into WBSM in recent weeks has been concerned because the stores he frequents in New Bedford’s Far North End raised the price of a single Black & Mild cigar from 89 cents to $2.90.

It’s part of the New Bedford Department of Public Health’s new regulations focused on making “reasonable health regulations” based on the authority given to the New Bedford Board of Health by the laws of the Commonwealth.

“A healthier city is the New Bedford Board of Health’s ultimate goal, and the driving force behind its recent vote to institute a minimum pricing policy on cigars,” New Bedford Health Department Director Stephanie Sloan told WBSM.

Stickers being placed in locations in the city that sell cigars reveal the new “minimum pricing” required for cigar sales. A single cigar must cost at least $2.90, and any “original factory-wrapped package of two more cigars” must be priced at at least $5.80.

The rationale given for the price raising for cigars was “Whereas, cigars and cigarillos, can be sold in a single ‘dose;’ and enjoy a relatively low tax as compared to cigarettes.”

However, single-wrapped cigars are often sold for use as "blunt wraps," which the New Bedford Health Department defined as “Any product made wholly or in part from a tobacco product, manufactured or packaged with loose and removable leaves or section of a leaf, or as a hollow tube, that may be used by the consumer to wrap or contain loose tobacco or other fillers.”

The new regulations not only call for the new minimum price, but also state that the Board of Health “may adjust from time to time the amounts specified” in the regulation “to reflect changes in the applicable Consumer Price Index.”

Sloan said other communities have already instituted similar minimum pricing requirements.

“Almost 200 cities and towns across Massachusetts have similar regulations, which are backed by research as a way to discourage young people from purchasing and using tobacco,” she said.

Source: https://wbsm.com/new-bedford-cigar-price-increase/

[Wookie]

Boston used to be such good town for steakhouses that offered cigars, bistros as well. That all ended 20+ years ago. The only thing kids in New Beige buy are blunts to wrap their dope in. Google a recent mayor of New Beige…he’s probably in jail. That beautiful working seaport is in tough condition now. 

[SCgarman]

They didn't nickname it "Taxachusetts" because it was a cheap state to live😁

[TacoSauce]

7 hours ago, Wookie said:

Google a recent mayor of New Beige

I Googled it. New Beige is not a real place. I think you might have smoked the wrong "kind" of cigar before you posted. Given this is exactly what the new legislation is trying to curtail, I'm beginning to think it might be a good idea!

[KCCubano]

4 hours ago, TacoSauce said:

I Googled it. New Beige is not a real place. I think you might have smoked the wrong "kind" of cigar before you posted. Given this is exactly what the new legislation is trying to curtail, I'm beginning to think it might be a good idea!

I think the Portuguese community calls New Bedford-New Beige. Same place. 

[BrightonCorgi]

11 hours ago, TacoSauce said:

I Googled it. New Beige is not a real place. I think you might have smoked the wrong "kind" of cigar before you posted. Given this is exactly what the new legislation is trying to curtail, I'm beginning to think it might be a good idea!

New Beige is for real. How the Portuguese refer to New Bedford. New Bedford is well over 50% Portuguese decedents. There are more people from the Azores here than there are in the Azores.

New Beige is a gritty area that needs their focus somewhere else. With whaling and textile industries gone, they never fully recovered. Many beautiful homes from the industrial age.

@Wookie, you're alluding to Fall River, not New Bedford. For those from this area, New Bedford and Fall River are easily mistaken. Fall River was more textile based, but same community and feel. Either city one can live their whole life and not speak or understand English if one chooses. We played both in high school soccer and never once was there an English-speaking referee.

[Wookie]

Thanks @BrightonCorgi, the mayor from Fall River is in the Federal Pen. Still stand by what I said re New Beige...though Fall River would equally apply. Both pretty tough places these days.

[BrightonCorgi]

13 minutes ago, Wookie said:

Thanks @BrightonCorgi, the mayor from Fall River is in the Federal Pen. Still stand by what I said re New Beige...though Fall River would equally apply. Both pretty tough places these days.

If you ever get a chance in Fall River, check out Portugalia Marketplace. It's a Portuguese version of Eataly. Worth the drive!

[Li Bai]

1 hour ago, BrightonCorgi said:

New Bedford is well over 50% Portuguese decedents. There are more people from the Azores here than there are in the Azores.

I had no idea there were so much Portuguese descendents there, I knew about Salt Lake City but that's it 🤯 

I always felt there weren't many Portuguese that emigrated to the US.

[BrightonCorgi]

10 minutes ago, Li Bai said:

I had no idea there were so much Portuguese descendents there, I knew about Salt Lake City but that's it 🤯 

I always felt there weren't many Portuguese that emigrated to the US.

Salt Lake City or Hawaii don't even come close to South Eastern Massachusetts in terms of Portuguese community. Can expand to include Brazilian community as well. Around 300K Portuguese Americans living in Massachusetts. My city of Framingham is well over 30% Brazilian. Store and street signs in Portuguese and English in many neighborhoods.

The soccer legend Eusébio came to my high school once (Cape Cod) and practiced with the team (before I was on it). He had relatives in the area.  

[Li Bai]

I'm French/Portuguese but my parents are from "the Salazar wave of emigration", if I may, and I had no idea. Thanks mate 👍 

[joeypots]

Loads of Portuguese people in my home town, Lowell ma. Brazilians are here on the Cape in force and despite nuisance taxes people from away are lucky to land in Massachusetts given the quality of life and astonishing educational and economic opportunity.